Wednesday, August 30, 2006

I think I have featured Billy Cotton in a previous blog but I expect the files have long since elapsed so here are some more from a recent find - an Ace Of Clubs label release from the early 60's. A mixture of standards, sickly ballads, cockney knees-up and novelty songs that was typical of his radio and television shows of the 50's and 60's. Also appearing here are Alan Breeze, Doreen Stevens and the Bandits.

"Billy Cotton, whose theme song was "Somebody Stole My Gal", was one of the most famous British dance band leaders. As both a drummer and vocalist, he had the talents to either stand in front of a band or back it up. Cotton's group was known not only for its dance numbers but a well-mounted comedy skits as well. He began his career as a drummer in the Royal Fusiliers at a mere 15 years old and by 18 had received a commission in the Royal Flying Corps.

As might be expected, military music was only a part of the picture and by night he would be behind the drums in various camp combos. After the war his syncopation was at first limited to the activities of a bus conductor and he also worked at jobs such as a butcher's roundsman and a millwright's assistant. Meanwhile a few gigs trickled in such as a spot with Gilbert Coombes and his Fifth Avenue Orchestra in Kilburn.

In the early '20s he was hardly riding high in the music business; typical pay for a trio job of that period was a bit less than 10 bucks. Eventually Cotton set his sights on starting his own band, including his cousin Laurie Johnson whose talents included promotion as well as the violin. By 1925, Billy Cotton and his London Savannah Band was landing extended stints at venues such as the Southport Palais, with the fine players Syd Lipton and Joe Ferrie in the band on violin and trombone respectively. During the two year life of this job, Cotton evolved from presenting simply dance music to mounting more of a visual stage act."

A curious record found in a charity shop some time ago. It's from the Philippines- maybe brought back from a holiday? It's an instrumental album by PangKat Kawayan "The Singing Bamboos" and consists partly of traditional Filipino music and western classical favourites like The Skater's Waltz, Carnival In Vienna and Hungarian Dance No. 5.Here's what it says on the sleeve notes-

" This orchestral band whose solo medium of musical intrumentation come from the bamboo came to be created in late '66 at the the Aurora A. Quezon Elementary School through the initiative of the school's principal, Miss laura Gorospe, whose dream tehn was "to revive and develop an almost dying aspect of our native intrumental music - that of ' muiskong bumbong'......'

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Found a couple of years ago in a charity shop in Westcliff - on - Sea in Essex. One of Frank's records for children. I remember his classic "Three Billy Goats Gruff" that used to be played all the time on Children's Favourites on the radio throughout the 50's and 60's.

"Frank Luther (August 4, 1905 - November 16, 1980) was an American country music singer, songwriter and pianist.Born Frank Luther Crow Lakin, Kansas, he was raised in Bakersfield, California. A trained pianist, he moved to New York City in 1928 to pursue a career in music. A country music singer, he was one of the first "Urban Cowboys", performimg country music at big city clubs as "Frank Luther and his Pards." He is remembered as the composer of "Barnacle Bill The Sailor" written with Carson Robison.He married Zora Lyman, a fiddle player who performed and recorded with him. Eventually, Luther shifted his focus to children's songs, enjoying considerable success with his recordings on which he sang and told stories. Among the popular albums for children that Frank Luther released were "Raggedy Ann Songs & Stories" and "A Child's First Birthday Record."For his contribution to the recording industry, Frank Luther has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1708 Vine Street.Frank Luther died in 1980 in New York city."

A record I found at Crewe flea market a couple of years ago. Recorded in 1961. He was a script writer for Beryl Reid and Dickie Henderson amongst others and wrote revues for the West End.

"Alan Melville was a playwright, revue author and lyricist well-known in the forties and fifties. He became a television personality and tv writer in the sixties. As far as I am aware he wrote no radio plays but some of his stage plays were adapted for radio, and Radio 4 had an Alan Melville season in 1983.

Melville was a prolific contributor to West End revues which dominated the lighter side of West End theatre. His satire was gentle, and he poked fun at the middle classes. Long-running plays of his include DEAR CHARLES, DEVIL MAY CARE, CASTLE IN THE AIR and SIMON AND LAURA. He wrote topical sketches and lyrics for revue and his SWEET AND LOW, SWEETER AND LOWER and SWEETEST AND LOWEST lasted about 2000 performances. He also wrote lyrics for Arthur Askey in the musical BET YOUR LIFE, and collaborated with Ivor Novello on his last show GAY'S THE WORD.

He moved on to television, though as a non-tv watcher I have no idea what he wrote for it. He lived in Brighton and died in 1983."

Monday, August 28, 2006

A 10' album on the Ace label of some of George Jones rockabilly recordings before he moved over into the country and western side of things.I must admit I prefer George sounding like this.

"George Glenn Jones (born September 12, 1931), nicknamed The Possum, is an American country singer known for his distinctive voice and phrasing that frequently evoke the raw emotions caused by grief, unhappy love, and emotional hardship. He has had more individual songs than any other singer on the country charts, 167 as of November, 2005, but, according to a formula derived by Joel Whitburn, is second to Eddy Arnold in his overall ranking for hits and their time on the charts. He has also had the most Top 40 Hits, 143, and is second to Arnold with the most Top 10 Hits, 78. Since at least the early 1980s he has frequently been referred to as "the greatest living country singer." Almost as often he is called "the Rolls-Royce of country singers." Frank Sinatra once called him "the second best white male singer." And as the scholar Bill C. Malone writes, "For the two or three minutes consumed by a song, Jones immerses himself so completely in its lyrics, and in the mood it conveys, that the listener can scarely avoid becoming similarly involved."[1]Jones was born with a broken arm in Saratoga, Texas and grew up in the settlements north of Beaumont around the Big Thicket. By age 24, he had been married twice, served in the Marines, and developed his skills as a country musician and singer. After Elvis Presley's success Jones half-heartedly took a stab at rock and roll in hopes of getting noticed but returned to country almost immediately (In his autobiography Jones claims that when he encountered these rock and roll records years later he would use them as frisbees). "Why Baby Why" was his first top-five hit in 1955."

Sunday, August 27, 2006

A record on the Melodisc label from 1968 found in a flea market a while back. Accompanied by The Ron Berridge Orchestra.

"Sparrow's roots are in Gran Roi, a rural fishing village in Grenada. He was born to a poor working class family. They migrated to his adopted homeland, Trinidad, when he was just one year old. He attended the New Town Boys School where he was selected to sing in the boys. choir of St. Patrick's Catholic Church. This was his initial involvement in music. The harmonics of the Gregorian Chants and the Plainsongs of the church that were embedded in him would later affect the depth and intensity of his compositions. His vocal abilities also reflect his childhood role as the head choirboy who sang baritone and tenor in Latin in the church.

Other influences included listening to American street quartets, pop tunes by Nat King Cole and Frankie Laine, Sarah Vaughn, Billy Eckstein, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald with their jazz contributions, and the early calypsoes of Lord Melody, Lord Kitchener, Lord Christo, Lord Invader (of Rum and Coca Cola fame) and the Mighty Spoiler, to name a few."

Saturday, August 26, 2006

A compilation Lp on the World Record Label by Spike Jones called "Go Crazy with...." found a few years back. I never get tired of listening to Spike and the band and this album is a great introduction to their brand of humour. Not to everybody's taste I know but it's not all bells, whistles and gun shots - some clever parodies of classics on here like "I Kiss Your Hand Madame", "Hut Sut Song" and "Mairzy Doats".

"His father was a Southern Pacific railroad agent. He got his nickname by being so thin that he was compared to a railroad spike. At the age of eleven he got his first set of drums. As a teenager he played in bands that he formed himself. A chef in a railroad restaurant taught him how to use adapted pots and pans, forks, knives and spoons as musical instruments. He frequently played in theater pit orchestras. In the 1930s he joined the Victor Young Band and thereby got many offers to appear to radio shows including the Al Jolson Lifebuoy Show, Burns and Allen (with George Burns) and Bing Crosby's Kraft Music Hall. In 1940, he had an uncredited part in the film Give Us Wings, and in 1942 as a hillbilly in Pass the Biscuits, Mirandy. He joined up with vocalist Del Porter and performed in Los Angeles, gaining a cult following. By 1941 the band included violinist Carl Grayson. Other band members were George Rock (voice and trumpet), Doodles Weaver (voice) and Red Ingle (voice). They became his backing band The City Slickers. Saxophonist Ed Metcalfe performed with Spike Jones for a while. Jones's wife was the singer Helen Grayco, who performed on some of his radio shows. They received a recording contract with RCA Victor and recorded extensively for the company until the mid 1950s. Jones had four children, Spike Jr., Linda, Leslie and Gina. Leslie today is the Director of Music and Film Scoring at George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch in Marin County."

Friday, August 25, 2006

A double LP I bought many years ago, probably at Brick Lane, released in 1973 on Virgin. I remember Kevin used to be played by John Peel quite a lot and he even recorded for John's Dandelion label. Here's what it says about him on his homepage-

"Kevin Coyne was born in Derby, January 1944 and was educated at Joseph Wright School of Art (1957-1961) then Derby College of Art (1961-1965) where he studied graphics and painting, obtaining the N.D.D. in 1965. Early musical influences were Little Richard, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and later (at art school), Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Jimmy Reed.

Coyne's first job was a social therapist at Whittingham Hospital, Lancashire (1965-1968). In late 1968 he moved to London, starting work for the Soho project as a counsellor for drug addicts in 1969. This work was a source for many of his early songs and remains a major influence today.

In 1973 a youthful and idealistic Coyne signed as a solo artist for Virgin (after a five album spell with Siren on Dandelion Records) proceeding to make eleven L. P. 's over the next eight years. During this period he recorded with the likes of Andy Summers, Zoot Money, Carla Bley (for her album "Silence") and Dagmar Krause. It was a productive time in his career, with tours of Australia, Europe, Canada, the U.S.A. and work in the theatre (the self-composed musicals "Babble" and "England, England"). Life was hectic. Something had to give.

A complete nervous breakdown came in 1981, the main causes being alcoholism and overwork. Virgin records departed to be replaced by Cherry Red, and succession of dark, brooding albums.

1985 was a big year of change. Coyne left London and resettled in Nuremberg, Germany. The move was a good one, resulting in formation of a German group (The Paradise Band), a fresh recording career and a drastic change in life-style. He quit drinking for good in 1987. Ten albums have been recorded in Germany."

Sunday, August 20, 2006

I think this LP on the Drobisco label was found at Brick Lane in the 80's or 90"s. Not sure of the date. Ghanain "Highlife" played on brass instruments which is unusual I think - I certainly havent found any others. The internet isn't much help this time and no mention of Asiakwa except that it is a village in Ghana.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

A record called "The Time Is Right" by Terry and Gay Woods from 1976 on the Polydor label I found at Brick Lane. No sleeve. I've always had a soft spot for the Fairports, Steeleye Span and that English folk rock scene of the late 60's and early 70's.

"GAY & TERRY WOODS co-founded Steeleye Span with ex-Fairport Convention bassist Ashley Hutchings. They left that band in 1970 and formed their own Woods Band with guitarist Ed Deane, drummer Pat Nash and Gay's brother Austin Corcoran.The Woods Band released an eponymous-titled album in 1971 but soon after Gay and Terry Woods returned to live in Ireland. Their repertoire included distinctive arrangements of traditional folk songs and they attracted the attention of Polydor Records who signed the duo in 1973. Their first album for the label, 'Backwoods' , received encouraging reviews and had a strong Irish feel, the follow-up 'The Time Is Right' was more influenced by American folk and country music.

Gay and Terry's third and final album for Polydor was released in autumn 1976 and was electric folk with support from Fairport Convention's Dave Pegg and Dave Mattacks and Andrew Bodnar and Steve Goulding from Graham Parker and The Rumour.

After a couple of independent label releases in the seventies Gay relocated to Holland and formed Auto Da Fe with Trevor Knight. Auto Da Fe was far removed from the previous folk rock incarnations and the band's synthesiser-led rock featured on two albums and six singles. In the early 1990s Auto Da Fe disbanded.

Terry Woods joined The Pogues in 1985 and helped that band establish their niche as an important link between punk and Irish traditional music. This association lasted until the early-1990s. In 2000 Terry released the critically-acclaimed 'Music From The Four Corners Of Hell'."

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

A rather battered Lp on the Decca label I found in a library sale many years ago. That was a good time to buy vinyl when they were changing over to CD. I remember you had to check the diagrams of previous scratches on the inner sleeve and add more if you think some were missing! Never quite understood the logic of this. The diagram for this record must have looked like a drawing by Giacometti.Champion Jack Dupree was living in Halifax in Yorkshire when he recorded this album with Mickey Baker ( who was living in Paris) in 1967. Produced by Mike Vernon in London. Other musicians include John Baldwin, Ronnie Verrell and Albert Hall.

"William Thomas Dupree, best known as Champion Jack Dupree, was an American blues pianist. His birth date is disputed, given as July 4, July 10, and July 23, in the years 1908, 1909, or 1910. He died January 21, 1992.Champion Jack Dupree was the embodiment of the New Orleans blues and boogie woogie pianist, a true barrelhouse "professor". His father was from the Belgian Congo and his mother was a Creole of color and part Cherokee. He was orphaned at the age of 2 and sent to the New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs (also the alma mater of Louis Armstrong).He taught himself piano there and later apprenticed with Tuts Washington and the legendary Drive'em Down, whom he called his "father" and from whom he learned "Junker's Blues". He was also "spy boy" for the Yellow Pochahantas tribe of Mardis Gras Indians and soon began playing in barrelhouses, drinking establishments organized around barrels of booze.As a young man he began his life of travelling, living in Chicago, where he worked with Georgia Tom and Indianapolis, Indiana, where he hooked up with Scrapper Blackwell and Leroy Carr. While he was always playing piano, he also worked as a cook, and in Detroit he met Joe Louis, who encouraged him to become a boxer. He ultimately fought in 107 bouts and winning Golden Gloves and other championships, and picking up the nickname Champion Jack, which he used the rest of his life."

Thursday, August 10, 2006

A boot sale find from a couple of years ago. This 10' LP on the Nixa label is from the early 60's I would guess by the artwork. This curios record of five tracks was "Conducted, Arranged and Composed by Jimmy Carroll". The sleeve notes tell us that Carroll", a top man in his profession, noted for his arrangements and versatilty" had been bitten by the "Something different" bug.Carroll was more renowned for his lush string arrangements for people like Rosemary Clooney and Marlene Dietrich. Here he tries something very different to demontstrate the new advances in high fidelity sound and comes up with something akin to the Exotica of Martin Denny and Les Baxter etc. Shame this record is so worn that these delights are rather lost under the pops and crackles! "Only nine musicians take part in this session. They each used several music stands. "operated" several instruments and displayed a light-footed sprinting ability uncommon among professional musicians."

I think I found this three record boxed set at a remaindered record shop in Barking in the 80's. It was released in the Vulcan label in 1974. It's called "Grounation" and by Count Ossie and The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari.

"The foundations of reggae and its association with Rastafarianism were established by drummer, percussionist and vocalist Count Ossie (born: Oswald Williams). Together with his band, the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, Count Ossie combined African-influenced music with the European hymnal tradition to create a unique sound that inspired everyone from Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus and the Skatalites to Bob Marley & the Wailers and Toots & the Maytals.

Count Ossie's earliest inspiration came from rasta elder Brother Job, who introduced him to the philosophies of Rastafarianism. A Nyabinghi drummer from the hills of Jamaica, Count Ossie cut his first singles, including "O'Carolina" and "Chubby," for Prince Buster at the studios of RJR radio. Beginning in 1959, Count Ossie recorded for Sir Coxsone Dodd at Studio One.

There has been some debate as to the cause of Count Ossie's death in 1976. While some sources claim that he was in an auto accident, others say that he was trampled to death when a crowd panicked at the National Arena."

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

This rather warped copy of "Calypsos - Too Hot To Handle" on the Monogram label was found a fewyears ago but I forget exactly where. The rather risque songs are typical of the calypso of the time which dealt also with social issues and local politics, in fact anything that was news worthy in the West Indies at that time.

"Calypso rhythms can be traced back to the arrival of the first African slaves brought to work in the sugar plantations of Trinidad. Forbidden to talk to each other, and robbed of all links to family and home, the African slaves began to sing songs. They used calypso, which can be traced back to West African kaiso, as a means of communication and to mock the slave masters.

Trinidad was colonized by the Spanish, received large numbers of French immigrants, and was later ruled by the British. This multi-colonial past has greatly impacted the development of calypso in Trinidad. Many early calypsos were sung in a French-Creole dialect called patois ("pat-was"). These songs, usually led by one individual called a griot, helped to unite the slaves.

Calypso singing competitions, held annually at Carnival time, grew in popularity after the abolition of slavery by the British in the 1830s. (It was the French who brought the tradition of Carnival to Trinidad.) The griot later became known as the chantuelle and today as the calypsonian."

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

A 10' LP I found a few years ago in Brick Lane and so excited by my find I sent it to Radio London DJ Charlie Gillett to play on his World Of Difference programme. Sadly it never made it in one piece - folded by some neanderthal postman! Charlie sent it back saying how sorry he was but not his fault. Maybe if he'd had a letter box that was 11 inches wide it would never have happened!?It is the soundtrack to a film I have never seen but sounds fascinating as it is set in Rio at the time of the Carnaval. The music is by Anonio Carlos Jobin and Luis Bonfa.

"Camus was a professor of painting and sculpture before breaking into film as an assistant to Alexandre Astruc, 'Georges Rouquier' and Jacques Becker, among others. During this period he made his first film, a short documentary called Renaissance Du Havre (1950). Like many French film-makers whose first chance to direct a feature came in the postwar era, Camus chose to deal explicitly with the issue of personal sacrifice in the context of war. But unlike most of his colleagues who quite naturally dealt with WWII, Camus took as his subject the war in Indochina. Camus then embarked on three films in collaboration with writer Jacques Viot.

Marcel Camus' work is often characterised by its lyricism, which was central to his films of the 1950s and 60s - Mort en fraude (1957) (aka Fugitive in Saigon), Orfeu Negro (1959) (aka Black Orpheus) and Vivre la nuit (1967). Black Orpheus brought him international acclaim. Winner of the 1959 Palme d'Or at Cannes and an Academy Award as best foreign language film, this exotic modern adaptation of the Greek legend portrays its Orpheus (Breno Mello) as a streetcar conductor who meets his Eurydice (Marpessa Dawn) and lives out his legendary destiny during the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro."

Sunday, August 06, 2006

An LP I found this morning at the boot sale at Chelford for 50p. It says it was recorded live in Rio at the Cococabana Palace but it sounds like the applause was added afterwards to me. Released in 1965 on the Realm (CBS) label. "Musical Supervision by Burt Bacharach".

"The most exotic actress of the 1930s and '40s, Marlene Dietrich performed her cabaret act around the world and recorded for Decca, Columbia and Capitol in the post-war period, after her film career had slowed. A thick German accent and her odd sung-spoken vocal style proved no barrier to international popular success and adoration. Born near Berlin in 1901, she began studying acting as a teenager, and auditioned with director Max Reinhardt several times before entering his drama school. She worked in the German theater and film world during the 1920s, gradually assuming star status until her international breakout at the end of the decade, when she appeared in The Blue Angel, directed by American Josef von Sternberg.

The film's success led directly to Hollywood, where she became one of the major female stars of the 1930s, in such films as Song of Songs, The Scarlet Empress, Knight Without Armour and Destry Rides Again. Because of her German heritage, the newly American citizen made a large mark in the war effort, performing the favorite "Lilli Marlene" on USO tours and recording anti-Nazi propaganda in German. She was awarded the Medal of Freedom and Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor after war's end. She had recorded music in Germany as early as the late '20s, but Dietrich returned again to the vocal industry in the '50s, first with Decca and then a long-standing contract with Columbia. The label released many live albums, preserving her wild cabaret act from various European capitals (several of them recorded with a young Burt Bacharach serving as musical director)."

Sad news about Arthur Lee who died yesterday. I always admired the "Forever Changes" Lp that a friend of mine had back in the 60's but never bought myself. Many years later found this "Love Revisited" on the Elektra label (no date) but imagine it's a compilation of tracks from "Forever Changes" and some other 60's albums on Elektra.

"Lee was a genuine prodigy. Born in Memphis in 1945 and raised in the Crenshaw-Adams district of Los Angeles, he made his first recording at 18 and had formed the initial lineup of Love by the time he was 20. The group was unusual not only because it was multiracial (a real rarity in 1966) but because Lee, an African American and Love's unquestioned leader, was largely uninterested in the more traditional expressions of mid-'60s black musical culture -- namely, soul and rhythm and blues.

The first album, titled, simply, "Love," was an energetic but mostly conventional set of short songs -- one highlight was a taut, punked-out rendition of Burt Bacharach's "My Little Red Book" that would have done credit to the Ramones. Their second disc, "Da Capo," was more venturesome, but marred by one side devoted entirely to the interminable "Revelation," a not-especially-inspired jam session that grew.

And then there was "Forever Changes." As Andrew Hultkrans observes in a 130-page book (one of several published to date) about the record's history: " 'Forever Changes' is notable for its relative sonic austerity, with folk and classical influences dominant and not a Mellotron in ear shot. At its core, the record could be the product of an extremely inventive acoustic duo, with bass, drums, and tasteful orchestration providing unobtrusive but essential support. When a wailing electric guitar arrives, which happens only twice, it cuts across the pastoral-Gothic soundscape like a strafing fighter plane, making its point far more effectively than it would in a typical psych-rock context."

Briefly a member of the Spinners Folk Group - Bob Buckle was a stalwart of the Birmingham folk scene during the 70's and maybe still is though little is found out about him on the internet. This release on the little known Ash Label from Birmingham was from 1975. Bob plays most of the instruments including the the two banjos on Home Sweet Home. Amongst a varied selection of songs- some by Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger are ditties about sausage machines,emu's eggs and whales.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

This charity find of Timeless Hoffnung was released in 1970, eleven years after his untimely death. These BBC archive snippets include the famous "The Bricklayer" speech from the Oxford Union and several items from radio shows of the 50's.

"Gerard Hoffnung was born in Berlin in 1925 and went to London in 1939 as a schoolboy refugee. Although he died at the early age of 34 years, he achieved in his short life enough to fill a whole series of lifetimes. Artist, teacher, cartoonist, caricaturist, musician and tuba player, broadcaster and raconteur, a much sought after speaker at the Oxford and Cambridge Unions and prison visitor, a Quaker - these were all facets of a creative personality.

In 1956 his talents combined when Hoffnung devised a concert of hilarious symphonic caricature at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Foremost composers were commissioned to write some of their wittiest and most humorous compositions, while conductors, soloists and artists submitted whole-heartedly to the unprecendented demands made upon them. Throughout the years since those performances nearly forty years ago, internationally famous orchestras have delighted in presenting gems from the Hoffnung repertoire to packed audiences. Since then, uninhibited laughter has constantly echoed as visitors file through exhibitions of the hundreds and hundreds of ingenious and absurd ideas, mostly on a musical theme, that Hoffnung illustrated with such superb artistry. His work offers no barrier to age, race or background. Success was immediate and has endured.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

A few old scratchy Ska singles now that I found down Brick Lane in the 80's, Most are from the 60's and played to death in juke boxes I imagine.

"THE FIRST WAVE OF SKA. In 1962, a time when Jamaica was copying the musical style of America, Cecil Bustamente Campbell, later known as Prince Buster, felt that something new was needed. He had his guitarist Jah Jerry emphasize the afterbeat instead of the downbeat. To present day, the afterbeat is essential to Jamaican syncopation. Another artist, Rosco Gordon, is credited with the development of Ska. He heavily stressed the second and fourth beats of each bar. Ska was born.

The sound systems began recording their own tracks to gain an advantage over the others, not labeling the vinyl so others could not see what was playing and 'steal' it for their own sound systems. Dodd and Reid were known to scratch out labels on records they purchased during trips to places like Randy's in Tennessee in America, in order to make these releases exclusive.

The sound system war escalated to the point that roughfians were sent to competitor sound system parties to cause problems. These people were known as "Dance Hall Crashers". Despite the primitive mono recording facilities, it was the determination of the Ska enthusiasts which enabled Ska to become the first truly commercial Jamaican Music, and later named the national dance and music of Jamaica."

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

I tried to find info. about this Lancashire band but they had no web presence so maybe they broke up many years ago and this tape from the charity shop is older than I thought? It's obviously a self published affair with a cheap one colour printed sleeve and a photo tucked inside the case that a friend had taken on a Box Brownie. The style is all cloth caps and clog irons and reminds me of The Houghton Weavers, The Grumbleweeds and Mike Harding - indeed Harding wrote the title song proclaiming the delights of the Wigan made mint. Maybe the group were taken to court for using the name? Who knows. Anyway , here's a few tracks of "Folk and comedy Lancashire style".

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Here's another batch of Amazing Thrift including some dodgy film stars who should stick with the day jobs. I heard that Robert Mitchum made an album of calypso songs which intrigues me - this may even be from it? Another compilation by the good folk at Ooh Ooh Music and put togther this time by Mr. Michael ( no relation!).